Flames only nhl team NOT to graduate a single draft pick since 2018

[Paulie Walnuts]

My worry is Coronato won't sign now because of being blocked by stars like Lewis and Ritchie. Everyone will blame picking him because he is in the NCAA and American, but we don't give anyone a legitimate shot on the roster.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

It’s kind of the same old story. Flames really are run like they are a perennial SC contender without the playoff results to back it up. To date.

Maybe this is the year that the trade deadline addition is actually a player from the system.

if they were getting the perrennial results of a team like Boston then this blockading of farm promotions would be justified

they aren't at that point yet and are in need of skill , so it doesn't make much sense at all . some of these guys are already overcooked in the ahl too

[Ashes]

Are we forgetting that none of the prospects stepped up in pre-season? Zary looked like the best of the bunch but he's still getting back into playing regular games in the AHL and higher up the lineup than last year, it won't be the end of the world if he joins the team later in the year. A spot on the big team has to be earned and not given I thought?

There's plenty of time for call-ups. Our contention window is supposed to be the next 3-4 years, if the prospects need this year to fully marinate then so be it. There's the other argument that putting prospects into the NHL too early is just a waste, whereas "over-ripening" in the AHL isn't really a problem at all. It's all about winning right now, I'd be looking to get the lines stabilized and the structure fine-tuned before looking for a spark from a prospect that isn't kicking the door down.

Road-trip is so badly needed right now.

[Burning Beard]

Quite the over reactions here I think. Less than ten games into the season. What are we, Canucks fans?

[TheScorpion]

Well, Phillips just sniped the GWG right in front of Sutter's box late in the third period here at this Wranglers game ...

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Well, Phillips just sniped the GWG right in front of Sutter's box late in the third period here at this Wranglers game ...

Just means Ben Jones gets called up - 3 points!

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Burning Beard

Quite the over reactions here I think. Less than ten games into the season. What are we, Canucks fans?

this seems like a larger picture issue .... no promotions since 2018

[chedder]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Trevor Lewis is 3rd on the team in xGF% 5 on 5 and tied for 2nd in five on five goals.

He's the guy people have issue with?

Yikes

The Flames are and have been missing a top nine winger, they're trying different options and may resort to a call up, but clearly aren't there yet.

Agreed. The fact that 2 goals puts someone at 2nd best 5v5 goals after 9 games is an indictment on the team and specifically the top 6.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Well, Phillips just sniped the GWG right in front of Sutter's box late in the third period here at this Wranglers game ...

That's great. Hopefully he keeps it up.

[Jiri Hrdina]

What is the premise you started with when you started the article?
Honest question
Was it that the Flames have drafted poorly? Developed poorly? Or that they aren't giving young kids enough chance.

It seems like you started with a conclusion that the Flames failed to give some guys a real chance, and the you found a data point that supported that.

Love your work generally, but I think it would be a better balanced piece if you didn't start with your conclusion already in mind (which my impression is you did).

Intended to be constructive criticism not harsh.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

What is the premise you started with when you started the article?
Honest question
Was it that the Flames have drafted poorly? Developed poorly? Or that they aren't giving young kids enough chance.

It seems like you started with a conclusion that the Flames failed to give some guys a real chance, and the you found a data point that supported that.

Love your work generally, but I think it would be a better balanced piece if you didn't start with your conclusion already in mind (which my impression is you did).

Intended to be constructive criticism not harsh.

Yeah if you can draft well, but you can't develop you have nothing to promote.

If you can't draft you have nothing to develop and nothing to promote.

If you don't have picks you can't draft, so you have nothing to develop or promote.

So if the assumption is that team X can draft well (have players that should be called up) and have developed them effectively (once again if you didn't you'd have nothing to promote) but won't call them up?

That's quite an assumption.

And it's subjective.

Without players getting called up you have to assume the Flames either think they all suck, or they're not ready.

[Bonded]

Toss Phillips in for a game instead of Lucic.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

if they were getting the perrennial results of a team like Boston then this blockading of farm promotions would be justified

they aren't at that point yet and are in need of skill , so it doesn't make much sense at all . some of these guys are already overcooked in the ahl too

I really don’t buy the blockade argument. I think it’s more about trading of picks leading to fewer high quality prospects. I just don’t think these guys are all that great.

Maybe the drafting is a little overrated.

Or maybe just a little more patience is needed.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Without players getting called up you have to assume the Flames either think they all suck, or they're not ready.

Or that you can only have 23 men on the roster, and you can't exceed the cap. The Flames have room to add just one player to the roster, and he has to be making no more than $1,578,000. If they want to add any more, they have to put players on waivers and send them down – and they will have lost the ability to bank cap for later in the year. That's pretty drastic surgery for a three-game losing streak.

Sutter was quite frank that the Flames sent Zary down for contractual reasons. Every team does this. It's not because the Calgary Flames' management is uniquely stupid.

Every team goes through situations like this, and they usually handle them in the same way. But because this is the team that's in town and you follow them closely, you can see their warts and criticize them. Don't imagine that nobody else in the NHL has the same warts.

Originally Posted by Bonded

Toss Phillips in for a game instead of Lucic.

Apart from the cap issues I mentioned above, Lucic is one of the few players who have actually been playing the system Sutter wants them to play – which is the same system that produced last year's 111-point regular season. The players who really deserve to be out of the lineup are the alleged stars of the team, and there just aren't enough bodies on the roster to scratch them. The most you can do is reduce their ice time and reward the players who are trying to do the right things.

Which, for those who are wondering, is exactly why you get the fourth line taking offensive-zone faceoffs while trailing by a goal late in the game. Their skill is limited, but they're at least using what they have in the right way. The top lines can have those opportunities when they show they will use them to help the team and not hurt it.

In a league with a salary cap, a maximum of three healthy scratches, and guaranteed contracts, this is about the only way to send a message that the stars can't ignore.

[Flaming Horse]

CORONATO has 3 goals in two games for the Crimson Tide this season. He really needs to be a gamer for the flames. It is going to be very important going forward for this team to be able to add players on their ELC.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

What is the premise you started with when you started the article?
Honest question
Was it that the Flames have drafted poorly? Developed poorly? Or that they aren't giving young kids enough chance.

It seems like you started with a conclusion that the Flames failed to give some guys a real chance, and the you found a data point that supported that.

Love your work generally, but I think it would be a better balanced piece if you didn't start with your conclusion already in mind (which my impression is you did).

Intended to be constructive criticism not harsh.

I don't think the Flames have drafted poorly at all, although their lack of picks has been to their detriment.

I don't think they're developing guys poorly, otherwise I don't think they wouldn't have had all the playoff success in the A they had last year. (I touched on both these points in the piece).

I think the issue is the attributes they prioritize when it comes to promoting guys. I'm with Bingo, I don't think guys like Ritchie, Lewis, Lucic have really been problems at all this year when they've been deployed in situations befitting their roles. What I can't wrap my head around is why Lucic is the guy they're going to for second-line minutes, or Ritchie is the guy getting PP2 minutes, when they have highly skilled prospects who have developed well and are pining for roles.

Like ... the sentiment all along is that some of these guys need to play top-six roles, or bust. Well, right now, the top-six guys are the ones who are struggling. But asking Milan Lucic to play on a scoring line when he hasn't scored a goal with his stick in 68 games isn't the answer.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Flaming Horse

CORONATO has 3 goals in two games for the Crimson Tide this season. He really needs to be a gamer for the flames. It is going to be very important going forward for this team to be able to add players on their ELC.

good . we need a sniper with foot speed in the worst way

[Derek Sutton]

The concern is that there is no cycle happening here. The current good teams have a steady cycle. Lacking good young players is a concern for the years ahead.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I don't think the Flames have drafted poorly at all, although their lack of picks has been to their detriment.

I don't think they're developing guys poorly, otherwise I don't think they wouldn't have had all the playoff success in the A they had last year. (I touched on both these points in the piece).

I think the issue is the attributes they prioritize when it comes to promoting guys. I'm with Bingo, I don't think guys like Ritchie, Lewis, Lucic have really been problems at all this year when they've been deployed in situations befitting their roles. What I can't wrap my head around is why Lucic is the guy they're going to for second-line minutes, or Ritchie is the guy getting PP2 minutes, when they have highly skilled prospects who have developed well and are pining for roles.

Like ... the sentiment all along is that some of these guys need to play top-six roles, or bust. Well, right now, the top-six guys are the ones who are struggling. But asking Milan Lucic to play on a scoring line when he hasn't scored a goal with his stick in 68 games isn't the answer.

On this we agree.
And at times I would like the Flames to give more of the young players a chance. But I would have liked to have seen a young guy grab that opportunity in the pre-season. Now you can counter that they weren't given a chance. And maybe there's truth in that.

But then I look around the NHL and see other higher touted prospects also down in the AHL. The guys that stick seem to stick because they grabbed that spot.

But the packaging around the Flames not graduating a single draft pick I think is actually not the point you are trying to make. Because indeed the larger factor in that is probably lack of picks.

At minimum interesting to think about and talk about which is the point of any good article.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

My worry is Coronato won't sign now because of being blocked by stars like Lewis and Ritchie. Everyone will blame picking him because he is in the NCAA and American, but we don't give anyone a legitimate shot on the roster.

Would you if you were him? Not a chance I would.

The Flames truly don’t give their prospects any rope to work with. People saying they “didn’t outperform in training camp” every single year are not being very honest here. Like first of all yes, Phillips did if you watched him. Like if you took names and numbers off jerseys and had no idea who these guys were coming into camp Phillips would be on the team. He is in the AHL due to contracts and roster size limits and the business stuff, not on the hockey stuff. Then some slam the guy for being too small and pretend like we didn’t just have a very small superstar for the last decade here.

Honestly ask yourself if you were Coronato would you sign with Calgary? It’s a gigantic risk to his career to do so and if I’m watching how Calgary handles rookies and prospects and seeing guys like Valimaki, not a chance. People say these guys have to “earn it” but they truly are not given a chance. Not really.